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Kenneth Rowley
Kenneth Rowley is a human male, born in the Western Kingdom under the Golden Banner to a father who worked the docks, carrying cargo to and from the docks to wherever it need be. As he helped his father work, this made it easier for Kenneth to become attached to the sea as he saw ships come in and out of the ports almost every day to unload their cargo and take off again. Biography Early life As Kenneth began to reach his final teenage years, he was offered to work aboard a Western trade vessel as a rigger, helping furl the sails and work the running rigging. He spent most of his years growing up out in the sea, travelling between the islands of Trepheon. He worked hard on board and eventually worked his way up to being the ship's navigator at the age of twenty-one after the previous was caught taking cargo and selling it off to pirates. This was the first glimpse Kenneth had into the world of piracy and with his greedy personality, he was intrigued to say the least. With his new found title he helped the pilot and the captain of the ship with planning and navigating travel routes and over the years had learnt quicker and safer routes to travel. Life at sea Three years later after Kenneth had gathered some experience under his belt he had been quietly planning a rebellion, spreading around talk on how the authority of the captain is unfair. He gave ideas about how much greater it would be to have a larger spread of power amongst the crew. Over the three years after gaining his title and starting talk on the question of authority, he had mostly figured out who would help him revolt and who would fall to his side if mutiny were to occur. The biggest success in Kenneth's plan happened when one night out at sea, the Captain of the ship had openly scolded the crew for their lack of effort, causing some of the members to lose morale. Kenneth saw this as a perfect time to begin enacting the first stages of his uprising. Kenneth knew not all the crew would fall to his side in fear of either being marked a criminal or in fear of not receiving steady wage under the new promised authority, however with the steady declining morale of most the crew, Kenneth’s chances looked to be weighing in his favour. It was sundown, the ship was headed towards the docks of a large city in Ludwag and Kenneth’s mutiny was ready to be put into motion. As the ship was on it’s way to the the port, he had gathered the trusted men and began mutiny. They rushed the captain quickly, drawing arms on him and holding a blade to his throat. His first mate attacked the mutineers and ultimately was killed on the upper deck where Kenneth and his own mutineers held the captain hostage. This allowed him to provide a narrative to the rest of the crew who did not initially take up arms against the captain, exclaiming how the captain treated them all disrespectfully and had given them a lack of individual freedom. He promised the crew under his command he would spread the power of authority amongst more than just himself and told them the freedom and riches of the pirate life. His speech was enough to sway some of the hopeless crew on deck, gaining him a larger force than those who were still sceptical. He had finished off his proposal by exclaiming he would write a code with his crew, one which all members of the ship must follow, captain included. The code would contain pirate laws ranging from the equality of shares split amongst the crew to the punishment for striking or disobeying orders during engagement. This last tale swayed more minds of the questioning crew, leaving Kenneth with the majority on his side. The captain and the small portion of the crew who had exclaimed open distaste in becoming lawless pirates were tied and held captive till they were marooned on a small deserted island no more than a sandbar (shoal) with some food, a container of water and a clean dagger to end themselves if so desired. Kenneth had now successfully mutinied the Western trade vessel and began work on assigning crewman to certain roles, writing the crew’s laws which later became known as ‘Kenneth’s Law’ and making necessary upgrades to the ship through selling the cargo aboard before the capture. Pirate Several years had passed and Kenneth remained captain of the now named ‘Red Knave’ ship, which had gathered it’s title through the known deceitfulness of it’s captain Kenneth Rowley. At this time, the crew had lost and gained different members, bringing in new experienced deckhands with only a handful of the original crewman still aboard the ship. The Red Knave had seen some deadly upgrades, the ship now armed with sixteen twelve-pounder long guns and four swivel guns, along with some new additions to the wood trimming of the boat and their unique red skull as their jolly roger, which was replaced by a black skull and red background when giving no quarter (taking no prisoners) to their prey as opposed to the standard when giving quarter (allowing surrender). As years had passed since the disappearance of the now Red Knave trade vessel, Kenneth and his crew had stayed quiet, only plundering small trade ships who sailed between the small isles in Ludwag. Western Reunion After docking in Trepheon at the Western Kingdom, Kenneth set foot back into his hometown after years out at sea. He had gathered a bad reputation for himself throughout the years and was quickly stopped by the guards after recognising his face from one of the wanted posters. He was taken in by the guards and his ship was seized alongside his crew being locked up. Kenneth met with a Western General and discussed his terms, explaining how he had sunk The Hangman with proof aboard his own ship. The body of Colter Stratford was retrieved and brought to the Western General where had confirmed the identity of Colter and claimed him to be dead by the doing of Rowley. He used this to leverage the conversation in his favour, telling the General that instead of being paid the full bounty of Colter’s head that he be freed instead. The General scoffed at this though ultimately let Kenneth off after coming to a signed agreement between the two would have him and his crew work in the interests of West, working as an illegal privateer not bound by any law of the West though still an ally to be called upon to carry out illegal tasks, such as plundering trade ships from other nations. With little other choice, Kenneth had signed the agreement and ultimately became a sailing pawn for the West. Despite being law that he now works in the interests of West, Kenneth and his crew are still true lawless pirates at heart. This signed article did not stop him from still carrying out multiple raids on whatever trade ships they could hunt down, western ships being no exception. The raids by The Red Knave left no trace on these ships, as all their crew were either killed or taken aboard and sold off as slaves. Kenneth’s Crew to this day work in the interests of West, however still living out their pirate life as freely as they can be. Personality and traits Confident and persuasive, ruthless and cunning, Kenneth Rowley combines experience with almost reckless daring. Rowley is grim and rough-edged, to say the least, but he has a knack for dry humour. Although he is known to be persuasive, he is also just as much a pathological liar. Even though this is a strong weak point in his personality, he only ever seems to deceive when it best benefits himself. Whilst his crew look up to him as a leader, he generally puts himself first, always acting in ''his favour. ''This isn't to say he does not respect his crew, as they are just one peg below himself on his list of priorities. He is not known to be greatly merciless, but has shown clemency few times even in severe circumstances. Most popular being his compassion towards Piper Vossler after having killed her captain in the Dethrone of the Nightmare's Hangman. At his worst, he is cruel, wily and blood thirsty. He has shown to be merciless and often turned agreements to his own favour, but nevertheless he's stated he has a merciful nature and sense of fair play, though in reality this was possibly only an example of his morbid sense of humour. Rowley has an evident sense of fearlessness, which could be interpreted by some as fatal insanity. He would often engage in fights with ships larger and stronger than his out of personal greed, some times successfully besting them in the case of The Hangman. He originally had great desires to be a man of the sea, though became greedy due to his megalomania for wealth and power after having a glimpse of it for the first time. He did not become a pirate for the adventurous life in the way many others did but for own fortune. Once he became a pirate Kenneth has constantly worked towards procuring these dreams, so by the time the end of his captaincy over his crew, he had considered them to be fulfilled. It is a struggle for him to become attached to things deeply, only ever truly feeling an attachment towards his family, especially his little sister who only knows him as a criminal on the sea, neglecting him for all his life. It is his sister, Juno Rowley who he cares for the most. His overwhelming sense of protectiveness for his younger sister has lead him to some times regret his life of piracy when dwelling on the past. Even though the thing he cares the most for lacks respect and acknowledgement for him, it has not stopped his attempts to sway her mind with gifts from his plunders, all of which have been turned away. This truly is the duality of his life as a pirate. On one hand, he wants to be the world's greatest pirate while on the other is conflicted with the remiss of his younger sister who he wants to protect dearly.